Ranked #322

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Umineko is an outstanding anime. But it has a serious problem: IT IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK AT THE FIRST GLANCE.

If you are expecting a standard murder mystery, IT IS NOT.
If you are expecting an other Higurashi, IT IS NOT.

The author of both Higurashi and Umineko, Ryuukishi07, seems to have a hobby of throwing crazy stuff at the face of his readers. And in Umineko, he threw A LOT.

So watching this anime, you need to prepare for some WTF moments. The first one is at the end of the first arc, and the second is in the middle of the second arc. Many people have dropped this anime at those points, they just can't accept them. But if you can and go on, you'll realize they are what make Umineko unique and why the VN players love Umineko.

Umineko is not a anime for everyone. Because compare to Higurashi, Umineko's content is much harder to consume. The first arc has nothing special (except the ending), the second arc is quite painful to watch. You'll need a lot of patience. read more

So here I finally am, the bad guy who is gonna compare the anime of "Umineko no Naku Koro ni" against the visual novel.

I was happily waiting for the release of the anime, since I really liked the first four novels. While I wasn´t expecting TOO much of the story of chapter 1, chapter 2 has underlined my bad feelings......

STORY:
Overall, they followed the story well. Some keyfacts where sadly left out, like some explanations from Beatrice. Still, nothing too important was left out, but of course, MANY other funny or interesting things are missing; but in the end, you can´t push a whole book or novel in a 24 - 26 episode anime.

ART:
When I saw the first pictures I thought "OMG WHAT´S THAT?", but after seeing it in action, it´s not so bad as I thought. Still, it can´t underline some characters like Eva and Beatrice very well, but I say more about that later.

SOUND:
I always like it when good music from a visual novel is used in the anime again. in Umineko, the recycled old music well and used many new tracks, too. Most of the time, the music is underlining the situation perfectly; but in chapter 1, it started to annoy me that 3 episodes ended with the same track in a row...

CHARACTERS:
And here we are, at the biggest weakness of this anime.
While the parents like Rudolph, Rosa and Eva where intruduced as very nice people in the start of the novel (what changed not so much later), here we got to see only their ugly sides from the start.

Evas "lovely" side was completely ignored, making her look like a b**** from the very start until now. Kyrie was nearly completely left out of the picture, even though she already played a good part in chapter 1 and 2, even though she may be the most interesting character out of the parents. The grand personality of Kinzo is nowhere to be seen, you see him crying most of the time. Maria´s creepyness is so exaggerated that it hurts. Jessica is only presented as a lovesick girl, but not the strong girl she really is.

About Battler, he´s not half as fun as he used to be in the novel, since he´s reduced to to the tragic hero that has to oppose the witch, even though in the original it wasn´t like that.

But the REAL annoyance is about Beatrice.
Her funny, easy to tease character is completely left out, showing only the "evil witch side" of her, but not the interesting character she really is. The somewhat "friendly rivalship" between her and Battler is completely left out, as well as the fact that Battler calls her "Beato" since near the start of chapter 2l.

Partly, the art-style may be at fault as well, I have trouble imagening a sulking or happily laughing Beatrice with the mostly "serious" style.

ENJOYMENT:
When you ignore that it is an anime to an existing story, it´s not bad, and I will still continue to watch it, since the really interesting stories are gonna start now.

OVERALL:
Even with the left out things of the story, it would be a great anime, if they only didn´t screw up the personalities of the characters so bad. Because they did, the story isn´t what it could be, especially because the relationship between Beatrice and Battler is totally different.

Like that, many potential was thrown away, what makes me quite sad. It might be a good anime in it´s own way, and I still have hope for the second half, but it is not the "Umineko no Naku Koro ni" it should have been. read more

My first review, probably won't be great.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni. If you've seen it's precedes Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, then you should have about half a clue about what's going on. Umineko is similar to them, but WAY to different.
Don't expect the same thing, but be prepared for alot of mind screw as the plot proceeds.

Story - The story is great. I love how everything fits into place at some point. The anime is following the game's story fairly well, some things were left out, but no big deal.

Art - The art, at a first look, I would rate it an 8. Very well done, but not the greatest. Once you start to watch the anime and game more, the way everything is designed fades, but still maintains a good level.

Sound - Probably my favorite part in Umineko. The sound is simply to wonder for words. Some of the BGM music was left out for certain things in the anime, but they still kept alot of important BGM's. The music is one of the reasons I've come to love this show.

Characters - All of the characters in the show are fine. Battler, the main character, I think he is being interpreted well in the anime, but he still differs from the game in a huge way. Maria is probably one of the cutest in the show, and one of the creepiest, which the anime plays horribly straight. Jessica is a great character, but the anime isn't showing her great side. They only show her as a damsel in distress, and haven't even began to show her better side, very sad. George isn't getting as much attention as he should in the anime. Like Jessica, he isn't getting his better side shown.

The parents, specifically Rosa and Eva, aren't getting what they should in the anime. Eva is being portrayed as a total freak in the anime, and Rosa, I bet her fan base has declined because of the anime. She was introduced as Eva x10 to me. All of the other parents are ether barely shown or don't have much known about them, including Kinzo.

Now for Beatrice. She is only shown as some sadistic witch who only has pleasure in trying to get Battler to surrender. Her playful side isn't even shown. At some degree, her character is actually being portrayed well though, more her tsun side instead of her dere side.

Overall - The show is about to enter Episode 4. I have to say, even though alot about the characters and some parts of the story was left out, it is a very good show. I have high hopes for the last question arc, and I know it should end well. Umineko is, certainly, a very well done anime. read more

Made by the same people who made Higurashi no naku koro ni which happens to be my favourite series of all time ^^

If you don't like gore and psychologically testing anime this may not be for you even without the sadism and torture like its predecessor had.

I am totally hooked on this. Only 5 eps are out finishing a story arc like Higurashi and the plot twists are amazing. I would describe it as a loose detective-like almost Pheonix Wright with gore and a psycho little girl who is absolutely adorable.

Studio Deen uses colours that arn't too overpowering but help portray the environment and the characters personalities very well. The charcters are well drawn and the larger eyes exaggerate the strong emotions constantly appearing throughout.
The soundtrack isn't as good as it could have been but its not really a big part as the intricate dialogue keeps your mind busy wondering and predicting 'her' next move.

This anime is worth watching because there is an air of mystique about it that draws me you in wanting more and to figure out the mystery about the Witch. read more

It's been a long while since I was active in the site.

Umineko is somewhat of an "sequel" to the fantastic Higurashi series, although with almost no link between the two except for possibly 2 characters (which I will neglect to name to prevent spoilers). In October 1986, a group of 18 people, including members of the Ushiromiya extended family and their servants, decided to hold a meeting in their island, Rokkenjima, with the purpose of discussing how the wealth of the family is to be distributed after the death of the current head, Kinzo. Unfortunately, after the arrival of the entire family, a storm traps the 18 people, mysteriously preventing contact with the outside world. At this same point of time, members of the 18 slowly gets murdered one by one, usually in a bizzare manner, which was credited by Maria, the youngest member on the island, to be done by the endless witch Beatrice. However, her cousin, Battler, rejected any existance of witchcraft in the world, and thus, attempts to answer all the deaths via logic, an attempt which interests Beatrice herself...

Story
First of, I've never played the game, read the novel/manga or whatsoever. Thus, my only experience of the story is via the anime. Possibly based on that alone, I thought hte story was very well structured, with the exception of the 1st 2 episodes, which were absolute messes. However, I found it puzzling at a few aspects, including the fact that various supposed main characters, like Battler's stepmother Kyrie, to have so little screen time, and how some of the story plot just doesn't flow. Nevertheless, the story as a whole is above decent, and deserves praise.

Art
The characters, the background, the golden butterflies representing Beatrice all look decent, but the blood as been censored too much IMO, but it's decent enough.

Sound
Music is an absolute nightmare, and I do not think the opening and ending themes match the anime at all.

Characters
Now, for the long list of criticisms. As mentioned earlier, Kyrie was neglected any real screen time, which is a big nono, since she was supposed to be hte source of Battler's "turn over the table" motto. Characters were supposed to be interesting, but I found most of them to be annoying. Maria's just irritating, with her over-emo/creepy combo. George is a real... eyesore, Kinzo, supposedly a ruthless powerful man, was seen constantly crying, while Shannon and Kanon have been given inconsistent personalities as the story went on to the third arc. Battler, a supposedly intelligent person with a great logical view on the situation, has been seen just moaning about how he can't think of hte solution. The creators should really have looked to their efforts on Higurashi's characters while making this.

Enjoyment
THis is given a 7 only because the story keeps me on the edge enough to want to watch ti weekly, rather than to force myself to complete the series.

Asking a player of the game would get you a bad review on the story department as well, but if you're like me, and haven't played the game, the show is watchable, but beware of creepy lolis and a league of extraordinarily bad characters. read more

"When the seagulls cry"
When I first saw the title of this series, I immediantly became excited. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is one of my favorite animes. I have very high hopes of this show. I know it's early to be writing a review, but I couldn't resist. The characters seem similar to Higurashi. Battler is very much like Keiichi, especially his pervy-ness. Then there's Maria who reminds me of Hanyuu or Rena because she can be really cute and at times serious too. Jessica immediantly made me think of Mion.
It starts off when Battler and family arrive on an island. Every year his aunts and uncles, and the rest of the family meet to discuss things. It's similar to a family reunion, but this year the focus is on their grandfather, Kinzo the head of the Ushiromiya family. He's expected to die soon and his children want to split up the money and family fortune between themselves and get downright mean and jealous about it. Apparently when Kinzo was younger he was expected to make the family wealthy and well known, although they had nothing. He met Beatrice, the golden witch and in exchange for his soul she gave him 10 tonnes of gold. It's considered a legend in the family, since no one knows what happened to the gold or where it could be. The family's symbol is a gold one-winged eagle.
They mention the witch Beatrice a lot in the first episode, and I'm assuming later on she'll show up since Maria claimed to have seen her in the rose garden. Also, Kinzo wants to see her again before he dies.
In closing, I'm almost hoping this show will even surpass Higurashi. This review is all on the first episode, so who knows how it will eventually turn out. I'm looking forward to it! read more

When i first started watching this series I just wanted something to watch so I was not expecting anything from it. But after watching the first two episodes I was like WOW this is good. If you like mystery and psychological stories with a mixture of gore and violence then this series is for you. The thing with this anime is that you have to pay close attention to all the little details to discover who the murderer is and your probably gonna have to rewatch some episodes to fully get it if u want to discover who the killer is for yourself.or if u rather u can just watch the series and let the main protagonist solve it for u but i like solving these sort of things myself before they do. All in all this is a good series and i cant wait for the next episodes to come out. read more

I decided to give this a shot after being thoroughly impressed by Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, and by the request of several rabid fans. I have completed the first story arc, and my judgement is thus:

Disappointing.

Higurashi was amazing, and if you plan on watching Umineko expecting the same amount of tension and plot twists and character development, you're probably in for a rather awful surprise.

The plot had the potential to be interesting, but I found it to be poorly executed and downright boring. There's hardly any suspense at all, and any suspense that might be present is cancelled out by disinterest. It's predictable. There are no surprises and no mystery.

And as I'm sure we all know, the worst of stories can be redeemed by compelling and relateable characters to hold it together. Unfortunately, Umineko fails utterly in this respect. It's like watching a troupe of bad actors: all of the characters are flat and unlikeable, have no motivation, and act and react very unnaturally. There were a couple I found to be tolerable, but for the most part it's impossible to sympathize with any of their personalities.

As a small upside, the art and music were quite well-done, but the amount of boobservice is disgusting. As a matter of personal taste, I found the two colours used in Natsuhi's hair to clash terribly and be very distracting whenever she's on-screen, and Beatrice's character design isn't nearly as dramatic as her portrait.

I'm a big fan of anime and it's very rarely that I find a series that I detest, but Umineko is one of them. For those of you looking at this anime due to its high scores, keep in mind that this is an adaption of a visual novel, and the majority of the glowing positives of this series have been given by people who concede that the anime is terrible, but want to express their opinion of the source material and/or the potential they feel the show has to improve. read more

When Seagulls Cry is an unorthodox approach to the psychological/thriller/murder genre. An interesting story reminiscent of Higu No series I find that this series carries a love/hate relationship (either you like it or you do not). What first attracted me to this series was mere coincidence and I am glad I have taken the plunge to indulge in this psychological caper. Without giving much away I'd like to introduce one of the two side s imperative to this series.
[b]Fantasy[/b]
You believe in magic, witches and uuuu~ scary things that go bump in the night. this series relies on the premise that the outcomes are already decided but who is really behind these gruesome murders. Was there some human connection or is there really a component behind the Golden Witch.
[b] Anti-Fantasy[/b]
Magic is an illusion and while this group is a minority it is fun to speculate at the possibilities of how and (if your a Law and Order fan) who has the motive to kill all these people. A lot of critical details follow like Higu post-arc but lets say for now I have a peaked interest and a few theories to say that any side has plausible and weak arguments.

Imperatively, I find myself asking a lot of questions throughout the series that reflect the storytelling which is done in a very unique way. While one particular character stands out, Battler (who names their kid that anyway), interjects his quest to prove that no magic is involved often throws quite a few logical fallacies our way). Of course, there are contradicting elements throughout the story.
For example, there is Maria the character we love to hate who sides on the fantasy realm. While she is approximately six there is something more that meets the eye with her (besides wanting to punch her in the face half the time).

Interestingly, I hope to update this as we go along but as you have no doubt read the premise this tale hopefully lives up to your and my own expectations. read more

When I first saw the character design I thought that It would be something for kids, specially when I noticed that the main character is behaving so strangely.

Well, I've to admit that the art design doesn't match with the theme of the story (personally I don't like it at all), but the story is great so far, I've only watched 5 episodes til now and it has nothing to do with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni I think, in fact this one is rapeating it has no goal, 'cause the strory is told in many senerios which is not in Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, the suspense is amazing and the gore scenses are magnificent.

You should definitely watch it, because it's rare when we are given such an awesome production.

Hum ... I almost forgot this one, the OST is INCREDIBLE!!!! read more